Topics covered in the course: party and party system change; the consequences of electoral reforms; voting behavior; the analysis of public opinion through surveys. These topics are analysed from a comparative perspective, but with a special emphasis on the Italian case.
[Students attending the course and participating in in-class activities may have different readings and a more limited study workload for the final exam]
Textbooks for the exam of Elezioni, partiti e opinione pubblica 9 credits
- G. Baldini and A. Pappalardo, Sistemi elettorali e partiti nelle democrazie contemporanee, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2004 (avalaible in the library) or G. Sartori, Ingegneria costituzionale comparata. Strutture, incentivi, esiti, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2013, chapters 1-4.
- A. Chiaramonte and G. Tarli Barbieri (eds), Il premio di maggioranza. Origini, applicazioni e implicazioni di una peculiarità italiana, Roma, Carocci, 2011, chapters 1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11.
- Bellucci, P. and Segatti, P. (eds), Votare in Italia 1968-2008. Dall’appartenenza alla scelta, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2011, chapters I, III, IV, V, VI, IX and conclusioni.
- A. Chiaramonte and L. De Sio (eds.), Terremoto elettorale. Le elezioni politiche del 2013, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2014, also available at www.darwinbooks.it.
- P. Natale, Il sondaggio, Bari-Roma, Laterza, 2017, 5ed.
Textbooks for the exam of Elezioni, partiti e opinione pubblica 6 credits
- G. Baldini and A. Pappalardo, Sistemi elettorali e partiti nelle democrazie contemporanee, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2004 (avalaible in the library) or G. Sartori, Ingegneria costituzionale comparata. Strutture, incentivi, esiti, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2013, chapters 1-4.
- A. Chiaramonte and G. Tarli Barbieri (eds), Il premio di maggioranza. Origini, applicazioni e implicazioni di una peculiarità italiana, Roma, Carocci, 2011, chapters 1, 5, 7, 10 and 11.
- A. Chiaramonte and L. De Sio (eds.), Terremoto elettorale. Le elezioni politiche del 2013, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2014, chapters 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, also available at www.darwinbooks.it.
- P. Natale, Il sondaggio, Bari-Roma, Laterza, 2017, 5ed.
Learning Objectives
This graduate course aims at providing the students with the concepts, theories and most advanced research techniques in the study of 1) elections, electoral systems and voting behaviour; 2) parties, party systems and their change over time; 3) political public opinion; both with reference to Italy and from a comparative perspective.
Prerequisites
None
Teaching Methods
Lectures and seminar course. Group and/or individual research projects are also part of the course.
Type of Assessment
The final exam is written and based on 5-6 short answers (within one hour and a half time). Students from non-Italian Universities only may take the oral exam instead of the written exam, if they prefer so. No mid-term exam is provided.
For students attending the course: in classes presentations, papers, tests made in accordance with the instructor may replace the written final comprehensive exam
Course program
The first part of the course deals with parties' and party systems' change. The focus is on the emergence of new parties and on the process of party system de-institutionalization in Italy and, more in general, in Europe, through which the patterns of inter-party competition become unstable and unpredictable.
The second part of the course deals with electoral reforms and their consequences, with special reference to Italy's current political situation.
The third part of the course deals with electoral behaviour. The causes of abstensionism are investigated as well as the determinants of the vote: generation, gender, education and family; class, religion and territory; left-right selfplacement; issues and leaders. The main empirical reference is to Italian voters and how they have changed over the last 40-50 years.
The fourth part of the course is about the analisys of public opinion through political surveys.